Zendaya, a Hollywood superstar today, still looks back on her time on Dancing With the Stars with mixed emotions. While the actress and singer gained incredible exposure during her stint on Season 16 in 2013, she recently admitted that the loss to Kellie Pickler in the finale still stings a little.
In a candid interview with W Magazine, Zendaya revealed, “Listen, I’m still harboring a little animosity about that. I felt that loss. I was only 16 years old, and it was highly stressful.” Competing alongside her pro dance partner Val Chmerkovskiy, Zendaya wowed audiences and the judges with her performances but fell just short of winning the coveted Mirrorball Trophy.
The Euphoria star also shared how the pressure of performing live every week affected her. “It was so scary. I took it very seriously, which, in retrospect, I wish I didn’t. I wish I’d enjoyed it more and just been like, ‘Eh, whatever.’ But I was stressing myself out. I really went through it on that show.”
Interestingly, Zendaya hasn’t watched Dancing With the Stars since her season. “I didn’t really watch it before I was on it either,” she admitted during a 2024 podcast interview. “It’s just not my thing. My grandma loves it though—that’s her jam. For me, it was such a stressful experience that I’m not eager to revisit it.”
Val Chmerkovskiy, her dance partner, also holds bittersweet memories of their season. In a 2018 interview, he called the loss “his biggest heartbreak” on the show. “She was 16, and she worked so hard. I wanted her to lift that trophy so badly,” he said. Despite not winning, he credited Zendaya’s participation with giving her career an undeniable boost.
Zendaya was the youngest contestant in the show’s history at the time, a record later broken by Willow Shields. Reflecting on the experience, Zendaya noted the challenges of competing at such a young age, saying, “My biggest fear was proving to everyone that I could be just as good as the older contestants.”
Though her DWTS journey didn’t end with a win, it helped catapult Zendaya to new heights. Since then, she’s won awards, headlined major films like Dune and The Greatest Showman, and even snagged two Emmys for her work on Euphoria.
Her time on Dancing With the Stars may not have earned her a Mirrorball Trophy, but it gave her a platform to inspire fans and take her career to the next level. As Zendaya said herself, “Things happen for a reason, and I truly believe that. This was a way for me to inspire kids and reach people I never would’ve been able to.”
One thing’s for sure—Zendaya is still dancing her way to success, just on a much bigger stage.
